I am loving this.
Thanks for taking the time out of your hectic schedule to give us this fascinating insight into comic book editing!

Posted by Hyenadoc on 2006-08-21 11:35:32
Next Moves
Jeez, being radical takes some work.

Ok, lets go to Exiles first which needs a creative team. I've decided to go with the simplest choice, the people who have chronicled these characters before, and have a real grasp on them

Paul Jenkins and Ramon Bachs with Aaron Lopresti as an alternate. If Paul Jenkins is too busy, I'd put him on plots with Sean Mckeever scripting, as they have worked together before. I'm looking for some I catching covers, so I'm going to see if Mike Mayhew is available

Onto Iron man, lets get Kaare Andrews on covers and let him go wild. manga influences, paintings, let him do as he pleases.

The Knaufs: The Knaufs are important in my opion, and we should do whatever we can to make them happy. I'd like to sit down with them and assure them that this is their ship, and they can run it as they like. I'll ask them if they would at least take a look at Jamie's work to see if they like it, if not for Iron man, then maybe for another project. If they insist that Patrick stays on or else, then we work with Patrick, see if another inker can bring him back to the bold story telling he used in Cable/Deadpool

Call Ed Brubaker. See how he is enjoying the book and working with Steve and make sure that everything is up to snuff. Address any complaints and talk about new storylines. Ed is VERY important to the book. Make sure that doing Altertane scripts for Steve and Mike isnt killing him, and addressing possible ways for him to take a breather if he needs it. Start looking at Christos Gage for possible fill ins

get on internet. Assure fans that while changes are coming to Exiles, long time x-fans are going to be happy. Hint that some of their favorites might be reurning but not in a way you would expect.

Talk to Tony and Paul and see what they want to do. Ask them to pitch a couple things my way with one cavaet: Go Nuts. I eally want something special out of these guys, something thats going to stand out.

All for now. Will stop speaking in clipped sentences.

Posted by SteveQ on 2006-08-21 13:15:17
Red tape stinks
This is a wonderful experience to view, but the big thing I'm getting so far is that there might be a dangerous amount of useless red tape. Can't send free books to a celebrity starring in a Marvel movie without clearing it through Marvel Studios? Can't get a few extra copies out to reviewers early to get a buzz for a book? Those are two "wow, that's bad" spots there.

Posted by khuxford2 on 2006-08-21 13:18:37
I love this
I have been reading this blog since day 1, and kept wanting to comment - but didn't feel like registering.

Well this really really fun feature got me to register (and just to say: I am loving this).

Thanks Tom. This is fun to read. And makes me wish I had applied (and somehow gotten chosen!)

Posted by kevhines on 2006-08-21 13:23:44
Huey's Response
Tom, I like to echo Hyenadocs comment - thanks for your time and especially for giving each of my ideas such thought. I was worried you might gloss over many of them - but it looks like you considered each one. Cool Beans!

Okay addressing the issues you flagged:

Text pieces: First of there is no way I would cut into the story pages for these. In fact if the writer wanted an extra page for his story I would gladly give them up. After all, I don’t think anyone will be buying the comics for these things – I just see them as an extra which might influence people to pick up the monthly over the trades.

I would try and still get the writers to contribute – but I must make it clear I am not talking about prose stories here – my idea would be more that they would discuss their inspiration for a particular story or character, or their influences or something like that which should only take them a few minutes to generate and could even take the form of an short interview which could be conducted over the phone if we needed to further minimise the draw on the writer’s time. Of course if a writer really wanted to do prose pieces I would not say no, it is just not really what I had in mind.

I can see how sketch material or previews might be pegged for wider promotional use in Wizard or on websites and I can see why that would take precedence. However isn’t their a lot of this type of stuff that we never see and never gets used? I guess the solution would be to earmark a certain amount of material for outside promotional use and keep whatever is left for internal use.

But the type off stuff Marvel gives out to Wizard/ Newsarama is not the only material I would seek to include. Original interviews covering aspects of the work which they don’t usually ask about and conducted by our own editorial staff, character and creator profiles, features on great runs in the book from the past – these are the type of material I would also want to include.

I would also question the idea that the relationship between this type of extra material and comics’ media coverage is as zero-sum as the promo department would seem to be suggesting. If done imaginatively such material might actually generate press interest rather then detract from it, as I would hope would be the case with my viral marketing/ alternate reality game. For example I may be wrong but I seem to remember the whole Humus Sapien/Thunderbolts thing generated both internal text pieces as well as outside coverage a few years back. I’m sure there are loads of other examples of this type of thing where internal promotional activities have led to external coverage.

As for getting a writer to help out with the game, though I could do it on my own, I would hope to get a pro to contribute to the project for free as an exciting experiment in storytelling and as a way to help market their own work. If we planned for the story to ultimately culminate in a storyline in one of my books then I would try and get the series writer involved. Alternatively, if the project was setting up a new series I would hope to get a new, upcoming writer, hungry for the type of wider attention a project like this could potentially bring, to write the series and work with me on this campaign/game/story.

If we went with the Fury idea and got approval for a new Fury series the writer I would be most interested in talking to is MARC ANDREYKO (I'm a big Manhunter fan) though I would also consider pitches from new writers like JEFF PARKER, MATT FRACTION and MARC GUGGENHEIM if they were interested. If the series materialised MIKE PERKINS would be my top choice for artist (sorry for stealing him Steve!).

As for the situations with Brubaker’s workload I would talk to him about it and discuss with him how serious the situation is. Daredevil is a pretty prestigious title, which he had to work for to get apparently, so honestly I would hope that he chooses to take a break from some of his other work rather than delaying new DD scripts.

However, the case could be that he is working so hard on DD that it is taking up proportionately much more of his time then his other projects and he cannot avoid a delay. Ideally in this scenario I would have enough time to commission a fill-in stint by guest creators – (as happened a few years back during Bendis’ run with David Mack’s stint) which hopefully would be no longer then 4 issues in length.

As DD is a prestigious title these days I would hope to attract top flight talent – MARK MILLAR and GREG LAND would be my top picks. Alternatively in the dire situation where the lead time is super short then I suppose I would commission a shorter run first, 1-2 issues – perhaps featuring the artwork of the now idle Lopresti with story from CHRISTOS GAGE, BRIAN REED, GREG PAK or any of the writers I mentioned above in connection with the Fury series – whoever gave me the best pitch and was most reliable to produce the scripts to a tight deadline.

I would also try and resolve the underlying cause – if it looks like it is going to be a persistent problem I would talk to Bru about his schedule – and discuss with him whether he needs to scale back his other commitments if he is over stretched. Obviously I would try and do this sensitively – but going from interviews I have read with him I would be pretty confident that DD would not be the first title he would cut if he had to.

Finally the Lopresti situation, - as in the DD situation I would use him for fill-in work and side projects. Do we have annuals or other extra material in the pipeline we could have him do? Ultimately I would want to find him a regular assignment which suited his style (Ms. Marvel, for instance, I think would be perfect should Roberto De La Torre ever move on). However I would be reluctant to give him an assignment on a major title that where he did not fit just because we have him on an exclusive contract. Marvel produces enough one-shot special material (“Unlimiteds”, annuals, specials etc.) that I am sure that he could be kept busy enough that the company isn’t wasting its money.

Finally I mwould continue to persue Ladronn and devote any remaining time (which is probably none) to investigating the possibility of setting up a very basic video blog operation.

Hope that covers everything Tom, and thanks again!

Hugh Sheridan
hughsheridan@gmail.com

Posted by hughsheridan on 2006-08-21 13:59:24
hugh you monster!
Mike is mine! miiiine! :)

It actually might be a good idea for him. We only need him for about 3-4 issues a year, im sure he can find time for the Fury series.

and GREAT call for Norf on hulk. just perfect.

As an addendum, I'm thinking of putting Kaare on the new Exiles project as well.

Posted by SteveQ on 2006-08-21 14:03:39
clarify
Kaare will be on covers for the Exile project. To keep it fresh, im going to ask for a manga lookmto iron man and a darker look for exiles.

and its Nord, not Norf, although frankly he should change his name to the latter.



Posted by SteveQ on 2006-08-21 14:07:27
Actually on second thought I probably would avoid suggesting to Brubaker that he scale back his other commitments - Im sure that would justifiably infuriate his other editors (once again, apologies Steve!!).

Instead, if the problem continued or even got worse I would discuss the situation with him in a general sense and look for ways of easing the pressure on him, even considering a co-writer if felt it was necessary and was open to suggestion.

Hugh

Posted by hughsheridan on 2006-08-21 14:23:12
Steve
Norf sounds so much cooler I agree In think his contract would have to specify that we credit him as that. Thats another "packaging" suggestion by the way.

I love your Iron Man ideas, Weston and Darrow would have been sweet - you should try and get them on an (imaginary) IM special project.

Hugh



Posted by hughsheridan on 2006-08-21 14:29:13
your killing me Hugh...
you aint taking Ed, Mike is one thing, but Ed has got to stay

DD and Cap are both sellig the same, and are both creator driven books, Lets get him off un canny which would sell 100k if our grandmothers wrote it.

Calling Chris Weston and Andy diggle in the attempts to do that Iron man Special project

Posted by SteveQ on 2006-08-21 14:49:59
Listen up Quincy Ill hire what creatorrs I want and if it damages you well thats just a bonus.

And I have your grandmother pencilled in to do a Hulk miniseries so can forget about hiring her!

Hugh

Posted by hughsheridan on 2006-08-21 15:01:03
Oh its on...
gosh that Ladronn, such a nice boy. I wonder if there isnt a Silver Sufer project i can interest him in....

Posted by SteveQ on 2006-08-21 15:25:05
Fascinating
Great Idea Tom, I can see that it's really hard, but extremely interesting for the rest of us who don't have to make those difficult decisions.

Good going, guys.

Posted by rohanv on 2006-08-21 16:31:38
hey
don't chage dd alrite

Posted by tarhaun on 2006-08-21 17:01:59
I'll try and say this as nicely as possible, Steve: Get a clue! Just take Aaron Lopresti for you Exiles team. As if the hint wasn't obvious enough. Take adavntage of your recourses.

I'm also baffled by all this text pages, internet promo, movie promo nonsense. Just focus on editing the books, Hugh. Sheesh.

Posted by underscore on 2006-08-21 17:35:30
Oh yeah and just ditch the video blog idea. Stay focused on the tasks at hand.

Posted by underscore on 2006-08-21 17:37:18
Aaron Lopresti
Good artist, but Rampn Bachs has a bit more "heat" going for him thanks to civil War Front Line. Plus, retailers will have an idea what to expect from the creative team, as they have worked in this area before.

Aaron might be good as an alternate, if Ramon is unavailable or cant manage a monthly schedule

Posted by SteveQ on 2006-08-21 17:47:54
relieving Bru...
If you like what Fraction brings to the table with Bru on the scripts for Iron Fist, you should consider him scripting Ed's scripts on DD as he is a street level character like the Punisher. It also makes sense because Ed is a quarter of the way through a twelve part story in Uncanny and Cap is coming off as a labor of love.

Posted by lionsfan05 on 2006-08-21 17:56:48
d'oh...
Fraction should scri[pt Ed's plots...sorry.

Posted by lionsfan05 on 2006-08-21 17:57:55
You know...
for faux editors, the typos are horrendous. :)

Posted by khuxford2 on 2006-08-21 18:02:10
Yeah but Lopresti's style seems to fit in better with the style of Exiles when it first started. A positive asscoiation that fans will definatley make. Also, if Bachs is so hot then don't expect him to stay on a less important title like Exiles forever. Especially when the guys over at the X-Men and Spider-Man titles come calling. Lopresti, being less populare, may prove to be more faithful. It's up to you.

Bottom line, ask your executive editor which of the two is better with their deadlines and further inquire why Lopresti was dropped off his other title.

Posted by underscore on 2006-08-21 18:10:01
what is this, backseat backseat editing?

Posted by Fetsur on 2006-08-21 18:51:51
Replying to comments and criticism
Underscore I am just trying to come up some new ideas - for reasons Ive outlined before my creative teams are going to be more or less stable so coming up with new ways of making the package more attractive is about the only change I can make an immediate impact.

As I said in one of my posts yesterday, though I am writing a lot about this stuff my day to day focus would actually be on working closely with my creators and making sure that their work is realised in the best way possible. There is just not a lot you can write about how you would go about doing that (basically it would involve reviewing their work constantly, brainstorming and consulting with them regularly, looking out for new talents or innovations and keeping an eye on sales stats and crititical responses).

Oh and I love the "backseat backseat editing" comment Fetsur!

Hugh

Posted by hughsheridan on 2006-08-21 19:43:41
Khuxford2, Fraction would be the obvious choice for co-scrpipting with Bru, and probably my first pick, though I would first want to review the results of their collaboration on Iron Fist, which after all has not been published yet. Does the collaboration work in terms of producing quality comics? and how are the two creators settling in to the their new working relationship? -those would be the key questions.

But, tarhaun and everyone else should be assured, things are going so well now that I really would want to avoid a situation where Bru has to lessen his contribution to the title in any way if it is possible to do so. I am just speculating about what I would do if the situation deterioriated dramatically.

Hugh

Posted by hughsheridan on 2006-08-21 20:01:44
To Hugh: You've got balls then. Awesome. The only thing then that I could think of to help you with your budget so that you can make some of those ideas happen is (and it's not backseat editing, just harmless suggestions):

You could try getting a fill in artist (Lopresti maybe?) to do a one or two issue story that is in black and white for "artistic purposes" which would cut down on printing costs plus not only would you not be paying for a colorist, but you could also maybe take the inker out of the picture and ask the fill in if they're ok with inking their own work. Meanwhile this saves you up extra money ont he side to pull of the video blogging, and stuff and it will also help buy you and your new ongoing creative team some more time to really build a good foundation and vision for what they have in mind.

Posted by underscore on 2006-08-21 20:29:23
It's just suggestions. Aren't we allowed to post suggestion to help the two contestants? *shrug*

Posted by underscore on 2006-08-21 20:30:57
Exiles pondering
So when are we going to start leaking details about Exiles. I need to know when I can get on "Fauxsarama" and start ranting or raving about it. Hawkeye? Thor? Echo in a man suit?

Posted by motteditor on 2006-08-21 21:00:50
Whoops, and forgot
Also more kudos to Tom for doing this; it's a fascinating idea and hopefully it'll go well enough that you'll do more of them in the future. Love to see more team books if that happens (as it seems like discussions over who's in them could be interesting).

Posted by motteditor on 2006-08-21 21:02:16
"get on internet. Assure fans that while changes are coming to Exiles, long time x-fans are going to be happy. Hint that some of their favorites might be reurning but not in a way you would expect. "
Yeah, "not in a way you would expect" usually doesn't go well with the hardcore fans.

Also, telling the writer(s) that he (they) run the show? Probably not the best idea either.

Posted by IanZL on 2006-08-21 22:17:50
on exiles
I like the severe, um, reimagining of Exiles. It is a title that doesn't do much for me emotionally. Give it a bite and make it a book that means something to a wider audience. Or you can assuade us all and have robot-cyborg-wolverines fighting lady deathstroke for a whole year. Get Quinton Tarantino to guest write. I'm sure THAT won't have any delay issues.

Posted by bigdaddyhub2 on 2006-08-21 22:24:52
My Take on first try
Hello

Both Hugh and Steve have had a great analysis on how these books do and how to improve them. I particularly appreciated their views on the innaccessibility of the current run of Captain America, the Exiles relaunch(since it`s going nowhere) and the replacements of the artists of the Hulk and Iron Man books. These are weaknesses that needs to be adressed. About Cap, I know it`s hard for a new comer to jump in, but I like the book so much I wouldn`t want to distract Ed & Co about doing their job. I would rather green-light another Cap title with a more adventure feel(like say Wildstorm`s WWII fun "Crossroad" mini-series with Lobdell and Francis Yu at that time). This book would probably need a Indiana Jones nut like Dan Slott at the helm and maybe Frank Cho(with Mark Bagley doing Mighty Avengers). Could announcements like these be changed on that level? I don`t know what in-house policies work and how much you can change as an editor. As far as the regular Cap, even if Tom mentioned to not have current crossovers in, I think a 4 part crossover would be good between Cap and Iron Man(a la surprising Stand-Off that went through the Cap, Thor and Avengers books a few years ago). It could work as a sort of follow-up to CW. Mainly Cap and Tony resolving certain issues(and fight!). And then that Cap book could use a great cover artist like Lee Bemergo(yep, that name again).

As far as Hulk and Ironman, wow the idea of Chris Weston on Ironman would actually make me buy the book and would definitly stand out on the shelves. I also like Cary Nord for Hulk but we don`t know if he can do a monthly and secondly, if we want a bigger name than Lorpesi, I can`t see Nord being such a known creator to make people buy more comics. I would probably keep the current team the same for a while because the Planet Hulk event is the draw here. But when the 12-part Moon Knight run by Mr. Huston and Finch end and they get replaced by new guys, I would try to lure Finch on Hulk and let his talent go wild when the monster returns to Earth and goes on a rampage. Finch may be the only one that could beat Bryan Hitch in delivering so much cool moments for the buck.

Posted by Bob Space on 2006-08-22 03:06:53
Replies
Underscore thanks for the suggestion, but I definitely would not compromise the story content of my titles to finance editorial/promotional content. Although black and white comics can be great when they are creatively driven (Chiarello's Batman: Black and White was awesome) going b+w just to save costs unless it is absolutely necessary and without passing some savings on to the reader seems wrong to me.

Also I don’t think any of my ideas really need cash to be honest - just time. Even the video blogging - I am talking really low tech here all you would need is a digital camera and a creator in the office to answer a few questions. I think any video material could make an impact far greater than the effort it involves given the fact that no one else is really doing it yet (well except comics foundry) and most fans might check it out if only to see what their favourite creators actually look like in the flesh. If Marvel has reservations about the quality of the product I could do it as an unofficial personal thing, using Youtube to get it online.

I really think that this is an idea that is just waiting to happen. That is if it hasn’t already - just search for "comicon" on Youtube and look at the results - and by this time next year Id be willing to bet that their will be a lot more regular, high profile comics video material available.

To Bob Space: Your Iron Man/Cap 4-issue crossover idea annoys me - I wanted to talk about doing just such a crossover but never got around to it! Crossovers being something Tom mentioned we should consider.

It’s been a long time since anyone tried a small scale inter-title crossover of that nature and I think that they have a lot positives to them. I remember loving the Green Lantern/ Flash crossover from the early 90s that Waid and Gerard Jones did because it was well written, fun and crucially I could actually buy the whole story - something that is increasing rare these days. I also think that the creators had some fun collaborating on it, so I would encourage my writers to talk to each other and other creators and see if the could spark off any ideas. I could DD crossing over with Iron Fist or Punisher War Zone; GR with Moon Knight, Blade or a Spidey title and Hulk with Fantastic Four or Wolverine though I would be open to any ideas my creators came up with.

Of course the usual proviso applies here as to all inter title crossovers - I would try and make each titles contribution is as satisfying individually to the reader as possible. You should not have to buy each chapter to enjoy the story.

Hugh Sheridan
hughsheridan@gmail.com

Posted by hughsheridan on 2006-08-22 05:39:34
"Fauxerama"
I like this "Fauxarama"-idea, motteditor. What say we show these editors what the readers *really* have to say about their actions? :-)

I start a thread on Fauxerama, titled "Brubaker leaving Daredevil!":

"My Awesome Inside Sources at Marvel have told me that Ed Brubaker is leaving Daredevil, possibly as soon as after the current arc is over. Christos Gage and Matt Fraction are being considered as replacements.

"Boy, Marvel sure didn't manage to keep Brubaker on the book for long, did they? I can't see Lark sticking around after Brubaker bails, either. This is it for Daredevil for me, I'm not even waiting for this to happen.

"I predict Brubaker will jump ship from Captain America next."

Six pages of heated debate follow. (Well, 'debate'... The 'heated'-part is accurate, though.)

PS--Tom, you say our faux-editors wouldn't have time/money for an alternate reality game--but aren't you running just that here on the blog. ;-)

Posted by NielsVanEekelen on 2006-08-22 06:23:22